{"id":11882,"date":"2017-06-01T15:31:58","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T05:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=11882"},"modified":"2023-01-31T11:42:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T01:12:29","slug":"does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"a

Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich?<\/p><\/div>\n

If you spend a significant amount of time on the internet, which I can’t recommend as it is a silly place<\/a>, then you may have come across people who claim rooftop solar is an enormous scam that depends on government subsidies unfairly taken from those who can’t install it, or choose not to.<\/p>\n

This is not true.<\/p>\n

What is true is there are two modest schemes. One that is active, and one that is closed to new entrants. Together they slightly increase the cost of grid electricity for all Australians and so disadvantage people who either cannot or have not installed rooftop solar.<\/p>\n

What is also true is rooftop solar provides several advantages to people who don’t have it.<\/p>\n

Another fact is, depending on the values on placed on the benefits of rooftop solar, the current costs to non-solar households can\u00a0exceed their benefits.<\/p>\n

But this does not make rooftop solar a scam.<\/p>\n

The costs of rooftop solar to those without it are declining and will continue to do so until they disappear, but the benefits will remain and outweigh the costs.\u00a0 Making a sacrifice now to prevent our shortsightedness from gravely destabilizing the earth’s climate is not a scam.\u00a0 It’s how we build a better future.<\/p>\n

I am not going to go into who should pay the costs or if it would have been better to do things differently.\u00a0 What I am going to do is describe how rooftop solar disadvantages non-solar households and estimate of how much it costs them.\u00a0 Then I am going to describe the benefits of rooftop solar to non-solar households and give estimates of their value.\u00a0 I am doing this so that when people engage in stupid arguments about it on the internet, they can have better informed stupid arguments.<\/p>\n

Two\u00a0Ways Rooftop Solar Harms Those Without It<\/h2>\n

There are only two ways in which rooftop solar harms people without it and they both involve small increases to the cost of grid electricity:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. STCs lower the cost of rooftop solar and slightly increase grid electricity prices.<\/li>\n
  2. Old, high, feed-in tariffs are still paid to\u00a0some households, especially in Queensland.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    STCs Add To The Cost Of Grid Electricity<\/h2>\n

    STCs<\/a> are part of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target<\/a> and lower the cost of installing rooftop solar.\u00a0 They are often called the “solar rebate1<\/a><\/sup>“.\u00a0 The cost of STCs are recovered through increases in the cost of grid electricity.<\/p>\n

    By working backwards from the amount of rooftop solar installed over the past year it is possible to estimate how much STCs have increased electricity prices.\u00a0 Roughly 700 megawatts of rooftop and other small scale solar were installed in that time, which would create around 13.3 million STCs.\u00a0 The STC price has averaged around $35.20 for a total value of roughly $468 million.\u00a0 In that time around 225 terawatt-hours of grid electricity were sold in Australia.<\/p>\n

    This means the cost of STCs for rooftop solar added about 0.2 cents per kilowatt-hour to the cost of electricity.<\/p>\n

    As the total cost of electricity paid by typical Australian households comes to 29.4 cents<\/a> a kilowatt-hour, this means STCs raise the cost of electricity for the typical household by around 0.7%.<\/p>\n

    STCs are being gradually phased out<\/a>.\u00a0 At the start of this year the number received decreased by 7%.\u00a0 The amount will continue to decrease at the start of each year until the scheme finally finishes at the end of December 2030.\u00a0 So the 0.2 cent increase in the cost of grid electricity per kilowatt-hour will diminish and eventually disappear.<\/p>\n

    Old, High Feed-in Tariffs Add To Electricity Bills<\/h2>\n

    Current solar feed-in tariffs<\/a> generally only represent the wholesale price of electricity during the day.\u00a0 In the past it was possible to get a high feed-in tariff locked in, but outside of the Northern Territory2<\/a><\/sup>, these have been unavailable to new entrants for at least 5 years now.\u00a0 The high feed-in tariff in NSW ended at the start of this year, so there are no generous tariffs to add to the cost of electricity in the most populous state, but their effect still lingers elsewhere.\u00a0 Queensland is the state with the largest overhang of high feed-in tariffs that must still be\u00a0paid because theirs remained available longer than in other states.\u00a0 Also, it’s the sunshine state.<\/p>\n

    In Queensland there are now around 530 megawatts<\/a> of rooftop solar receiving the premium tariff of 44 cents.\u00a0 That amount of rooftop solar would generate about 685 million kilowatt-hours in a year for a total of around $300 million worth of premium tariff.\u00a0 Roughly 54 terawatt-hours of grid electricity are sold each year in Queensland, so old feed-in tariffs would raise the cost of each kilowatt-hour of electricity by around 0.6 cents.\u00a0 That’s enough to increase the electricity bill of a typical Queensland household by about 2%.<\/p>\n

    This amount will slowly decrease as a small portion of households lose their high feed-in tariff each year and will end entirely on the 1st of July 2028.\u00a0 In all other states, old feed-in tariffs have a much smaller effect on electricity prices and will end within a few years3<\/a><\/sup>, as they have in NSW.\u00a0 While it varies from state to state the current average increase in grid electricity resulting from old feed-in tariffs is probably similar to that of STCs at around 0.2 cents.<\/p>\n

    5 Ways Rooftop Solar Benefits Those Without It<\/h2>\n

    There are 5 main ways rooftop solar benefits those who don’t have it:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. It lowers wholesale electricity prices<\/li>\n
    2. It reduces the rate of climate change.<\/li>\n
    3. It decreases the incidence of illness and death from fossil fuel pollution.<\/li>\n
    4. It decreases transmission and distribution costs.<\/li>\n
    5. It provides free ancillary services to the grid.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Rooftop Solar Lowers The Cost Of Grid Electricity<\/h2>\n

      Rooftop solar reduces the cost of electricity by always producing power during the day.\u00a0 While it is\u00a0affected by weather, unlike fossil fuels, its output is completely unaffected by the price paid on the wholesale electricity market.\u00a0 When it comes to market prices, rooftop solar doesn’t give a damn.<\/p>\n

      Because its power production is independent of prices, it helps keep wholesale electricity prices down.\u00a0 By reducing demand for grid electricity during the day it reduces the ability of fossil fuel and hydroelectric generators to bid up the price of electricity.\u00a0 It is especially effective because it provides electricity on summer afternoons during heatwaves when wholesale electricity prices would otherwise be at their highest.<\/p>\n

      One estimate is that rooftop solar saved consumers in NSW $888 million<\/a> during the February heatwave.\u00a0 If that’s correct, it is a massive amount.\u00a0 But I don’t want to put too high a figure on the amount of money rooftop solar saves through lowering wholesale prices because if there was no rooftop solar there would be other generating capacity in its place and it would be keeping prices down.\u00a0 There wouldn’t be just a big rooftop solar shaped hole in our generating capacity.\u00a0 So until I get better information, I will estimate that rooftop solar has lowered the average cost of electricity by 0.1 cents per kilowatt-hour4<\/a><\/sup>.\u00a0 Since rooftop solar provides around 2.7% of Australia’s electricity that means each kilowatt-hour of rooftop solar generation provides an average of 3.7 cents of benefit by lowering electricity prices.<\/p>\n

      Rooftop Solar Reduces The Rate Of Climate Change<\/h2>\n

      This is the big one.\u00a0 Climate change doesn’t just threaten us, it threatens unborn generations, dugongs, and puppies.\u00a0 If we don’t drastically reduce our fossil fuel use it will force us to change our name from Homo sapiens<\/em> to Homo asinus<\/em>5<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

      There are a variety of methods used to put a dollar value on greenhouse gas emissions displaced by rooftop solar.\u00a0 But the most optimistic I can accept is 7 cents a kilowatt-hour.\u00a0 I think 10 cents is much more realistic, but I am willing to use 7 cents as a minimum6<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

      Rooftop Solar Reduces Pollution<\/h2>\n

      Pollution from burning coal kills people.\u00a0 One estimate puts the health cost of burning coal in Victoria at 0.8 cents<\/a> per kilowatt-hour.\u00a0 Electricity from rooftop solar mostly displaces coal generation, giving it a significant health benefit.\u00a0 Allowing for the fact that it also replaces some low polluting natural gas generation and other states have less filthy coal generation than Victoria, as an\u00a0estimate rooftop solar may provide 0.4 cents worth of reduced health costs per kilowatt-hour.<\/p>\n

      Rooftop Solar Reduces Transmission And Distribution Costs<\/h2>\n

      High voltage power lines carry fossil fuel generated electricity long distances and then electrical substations do the\u00a0low voltage, local distribution.\u00a0 This all costs money.\u00a0 Also, around 7% of grid electricity is lost in the process.\u00a0 But electricity from rooftop solar is normally consumed locally which saves on these costs and limits transmission losses.\u00a0 Once rooftop solar capacity in an area is high enough, distribution infrastructure might need\u00a0upgrading which is an expense, but the overall savings of solar are greater.<\/p>\n

      In Victoria from the 1st of July, their feed in tariff will include 0.6 cents per kilowatt-hour<\/a> to account for the value of avoided transmission and distribution losses.\u00a0 This is much lower than what Solar Citizens estimate<\/a>, but I will use 0.6 cents as a minimum figure.<\/p>\n

      Rooftop Solar Provides Free Ancillary Services To The Grid<\/h2>\n

      Ancillary services are functions generators give that help support the operation of the grid.\u00a0 They include regulating voltage, frequency, and waveform.\u00a0 When grid generators give these services they are paid to do so, but all modern solar inverters provide ancillary services to the grid for free and help improve the quality of electricity for all.<\/p>\n

      It’s not easy to put a value on the ancillary services solar provides, but in Victoria from the first of July feed-in tariffs will contain a 0.1 cent component<\/a> to cover, “avoided market fees and ancillary service charges”.<\/p>\n

      In The Long Run Everyone Comes Out Ahead With Rooftop Solar<\/h2>\n

      Listing my minimum estimates for the monetary value provided by rooftop solar for all households per kilowatt-hour gives:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Lowering the wholesale cost of electricity 3.7 cents.<\/li>\n
      2. Avoided greenhouse gas emissions 7 cents.<\/li>\n
      3. Avoided heath costs from reduced pollution 0.4 cents.<\/li>\n
      4. Reduced transmission and distribution costs 0.6 cents.<\/li>\n
      5. Value of ancillary services provided to grid 0.1 cents.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        These add up to a total of 11.8 cents.\u00a0 If we compare that to the perhaps 0.4 cent increase caused by STCs and old feed-in tariffs it makes for a pretty impressive comparison.<\/p>\n

        The only trouble is the comparison is bullshit.<\/p>\n

        I’m comparing 11.8 cents of benefit per kilowatt-hour of rooftop solar generated electricity to a half a cent increase in all electricity sold on the grid when only about 2.7% of Australia’s electricity is from rooftop solar.\u00a0 That means the benefit spread across all kilowatt-hours is about 0.32 cents.\u00a0 So non-solar households are paying about 0.1 cents a kilowatt-hour more after the value of current benefits are accounted for.\u00a0 Using the values I listed above, non-solar households are subsidizing solar households at their expense.\u00a0 As a result, I would like to say, thank you.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/thank-you.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Thank you to the non-solar households of Australia for helping to make it possible for Australia to lead the world in reducing the cost of rooftop solar.\u00a0 With your help, Australia has been able to develop the most cost-effective rooftop solar industry in the world.<\/p>\n

        As I said, I am not going to go into whether or not non-solar households should have contributed. You have contributed and I can guarantee you that what you are contributing is decreasing and it will not be long before the benefits outweigh the costs, if they don’t already.<\/p>\n

        Whether it was willing or not, you have made an investment and it will be repaid in full, and then some.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        If you spend a significant amount of time on the internet, which I can’t recommend as it is a silly place, then you may have come across people who claim rooftop solar is an enormous scam that depends on government subsidies unfairly taken from those who can’t install it, or choose not to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":12090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[551],"tags":[47,397],"class_list":["post-11882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battery-storage","tag-electricity-prices","tag-politics","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoes Rooftop Solar Hurt Those Without Solar?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich? In the short term, yes. But the medium to long term benefits will be huge. Discover why.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich? In the short term, yes. But the medium to long term benefits will be huge. Discover why.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-01T05:01:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-31T01:12:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ronald Brakels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BrakelsRonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ronald Brakels\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0ce1779b3f5cb67cb4f146732af2fc7\"},\"headline\":\"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-01T05:01:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-31T01:12:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/\"},\"wordCount\":2084,\"commentCount\":12,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Electricity Prices\",\"politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Battery Storage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/\",\"name\":\"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt Those Without Solar?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-01T05:01:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-31T01:12:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich? In the short term, yes. But the medium to long term benefits will be huge. Discover why.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg\",\"width\":650,\"height\":340},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Battery Storage\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/battery-storage\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes Blog\",\"description\":\"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"width\":592,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"SolarQuotes\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/solar_quotes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/solarquotes\/\",\"https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/company\/solarquotes\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SolarQuotesAustralia\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0ce1779b3f5cb67cb4f146732af2fc7\",\"name\":\"Ronald Brakels\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a252c73a3af84c860d5f55cb59b33133bd5403bb5c1c065d0e8ef95252f3237?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a252c73a3af84c860d5f55cb59b33133bd5403bb5c1c065d0e8ef95252f3237?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a252c73a3af84c860d5f55cb59b33133bd5403bb5c1c065d0e8ef95252f3237?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Ronald Brakels\"},\"description\":\"Joining SolarQuotes in 2015, Ronald has a knack for reading those tediously long documents put out by solar manufacturers and translating their contents into something consumers might find interesting. Master of heavily researched deep-dive blog posts, his relentless consumer advocacy has ruffled more than a few manufacturer's feathers over the years. Read Ronald's full bio.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrakelsRonald\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/ronald\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt Those Without Solar?","description":"Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich? In the short term, yes. But the medium to long term benefits will be huge. Discover why.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?","og_description":"Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich? In the short term, yes. But the medium to long term benefits will be huge. Discover why.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/","og_site_name":"SolarQuotes Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","article_published_time":"2017-06-01T05:01:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-31T01:12:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":650,"height":340,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ronald Brakels","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BrakelsRonald","twitter_site":"@solar_quotes","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/"},"author":{"name":"Ronald Brakels","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0ce1779b3f5cb67cb4f146732af2fc7"},"headline":"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?","datePublished":"2017-06-01T05:01:58+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-31T01:12:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/"},"wordCount":2084,"commentCount":12,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg","keywords":["Electricity Prices","politics"],"articleSection":["Battery Storage"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/","name":"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt Those Without Solar?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg","datePublished":"2017-06-01T05:01:58+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-31T01:12:29+00:00","description":"Do solar rebates result in the poor subsidising the rich? In the short term, yes. But the medium to long term benefits will be huge. Discover why.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg","width":650,"height":340},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/does-rooftop-solar-hurt-the-have-nots\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Battery Storage","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/battery-storage\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Does Rooftop Solar Hurt The Have Nots?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","name":"SolarQuotes Blog","description":"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization","name":"SolarQuotes","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","width":592,"height":600,"caption":"SolarQuotes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","https:\/\/x.com\/solar_quotes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/solarquotes\/","https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/company\/solarquotes","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SolarQuotesAustralia"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0ce1779b3f5cb67cb4f146732af2fc7","name":"Ronald Brakels","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a252c73a3af84c860d5f55cb59b33133bd5403bb5c1c065d0e8ef95252f3237?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a252c73a3af84c860d5f55cb59b33133bd5403bb5c1c065d0e8ef95252f3237?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a252c73a3af84c860d5f55cb59b33133bd5403bb5c1c065d0e8ef95252f3237?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","caption":"Ronald Brakels"},"description":"Joining SolarQuotes in 2015, Ronald has a knack for reading those tediously long documents put out by solar manufacturers and translating their contents into something consumers might find interesting. Master of heavily researched deep-dive blog posts, his relentless consumer advocacy has ruffled more than a few manufacturer's feathers over the years. Read Ronald's full bio.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/BrakelsRonald"],"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/ronald\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/solar_prince_CROP.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-35E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":71850,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/australian-solar-coal-mb2846\/","url_meta":{"origin":11882,"position":0},"title":"Australian Rooftop Solar Power’s Rise Astounding, But..","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Various headlines popping up around the place yesterday (and into today) might lead some to think the end of coal power in Australia is imminent. The enthusiasm for solar energy is great, but this isn't quite the case. An example was the ABC's headline: \"Rooftop solar poised to become Australia's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coal vs. solar power - Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/australia-solar-coal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/australia-solar-coal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/australia-solar-coal.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/australia-solar-coal.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/australia-solar-coal.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17183,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/india-rooftop-solar-mb0336\/","url_meta":{"origin":11882,"position":1},"title":"India Needs To Pick Up Pace On Rooftop Solar : BNEF","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"November 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"India's rapid growth in rooftop solar panel installations isn't fast enough to meet the nation's goals says a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. India has seen a 117% compound annual growth rate in rooftop PV since April 2013 and 715MW of rooftop solar was installed this financial year.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rooftops solar power in India","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/india-rooftop-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/india-rooftop-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/india-rooftop-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/india-rooftop-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25690,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/sa-solar-record\/","url_meta":{"origin":11882,"position":2},"title":"Record Breaking 63% Of Electricity Demand Met By Rooftop Solar In South Australia","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"November 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On Sunday, rooftop solar provided 60% of all South Australian electricity demand in the middle of the day.\u00a0 This makes SA the most solar powered state by far and puts it well past the point where we were told solar power would destroy the grid, cause your lamb roast to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"solar record","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/63-percent.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/63-percent.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/63-percent.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/63-percent.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/63-percent.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97168,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/rooftop-solar-performance-mb3355\/","url_meta":{"origin":11882,"position":3},"title":"Rooftop Solar Taming Australia’s Summer Sizzle","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"January 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Air-conditioners were working hard during the recent heatwave that affected large parts of Australia \u2014 and rooftop solar power systems did their bit to alleviate strain on the mains grid while making air-con use greener and cheaper. How Much Electricity Was Supplied By Rooftop Solar Panels? From about 4.30AM last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rooftop solar performance during heatwave","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rooftop-solar-performance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rooftop-solar-performance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rooftop-solar-performance.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rooftop-solar-performance.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rooftop-solar-performance.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54625,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/rooftop-solar-power-world-mb2186\/","url_meta":{"origin":11882,"position":4},"title":"Study: Rooftop Solar Panels Could Power The World","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A global assessment of the electricity generation potential of rooftop solar panels has arrived at some very interesting conclusions. Researchers from University College Cork in Ireland, Imperial College London, Ahmedabad University in India and the USA's Colombia University mapped 130 million km2 of the Earth's land to identify 0.2 million\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rooftop solar powering the world","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rooftop-solar-world-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rooftop-solar-world-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rooftop-solar-world-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rooftop-solar-world-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rooftop-solar-world-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":88561,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-xmas-australia-mb3081\/","url_meta":{"origin":11882,"position":5},"title":"A Very Solar Xmas Day In Australia","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"December 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Rooftop solar panels across Australia did their bit to support festivities yesterday with clean energy, and made a significant contribution to meeting overall mains grid electricity demand. Solar power systems were not only producing electricity and considerable bill savings for their owners, but also exporting energy for use by others\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rooftop solar in Australia - Xmas day","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/solar-xmas-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/solar-xmas-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/solar-xmas-australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/solar-xmas-australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/solar-xmas-australia.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11882"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70510,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11882\/revisions\/70510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}